The Government has decided to set
up a Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB) in the country as an autonomous
body through an Act of Parliament.

The SERB shall be chaired by the Secretary
to the Government of India in the Department of Science and Technology and shall
have other senior government functionaries and eminent scientists from different
fields of science and technology as members. The Board shall also be advised by
an Oversight Committee of Experts chaired by a scientist of international repute.
SERB is being set up for promoting basic research in Science and Engineering and
to provide financial assistance to scientists, academic institutions, R&D
laboratories, industrial concerns and other agencies for such research. The creation
of SERB, apart from significantly enhancing the level of basic research funding,
shall also impart the necessary autonomy, flexibility and speed in shaping the
research programmes and delivery of funds to researchers. This has become necessary
to be able to effectively respond to the fast-changing contours of advanced research
and ever-increasing global competition.

The Science and Engineering Research
Board Bill, 2008 was passed by the Lok Sabha on December 12, 2008 and by the Rajya
Sabha on December 19, 2008. The Board will be constituted after the Act comes
into force.

This information was given by Union Minister for Science &
Technology and Earth Sciences, Shri Kapil Sibal in a written reply to a question
by Shri K.C. Pallani Shamy in the Lok Sabha today.Source
: Press Information BureauDate :
December 23, 2008